Prevalence of dyslipidemia in HIV‐infected patients on combined antiretroviral treatment in Spain: a qualitative analysis

Purpose Among traditional cardiovascular risk factors, dyslipidemia could be particularly prevalent since virus, treatment and host factors may be involved in its development. Our analysis aimed to describe the prevalence of different types of dyslipidemia in a population of HIV‐infected, treatment‐experienced patients in Spain. Methods Cross‐sectional analysis within 10 HIV units across Spain. We collected data on demographics and cardiovascular risk factors, including lipid profile as well as information on current use of lipid‐lowering drugs. This analysis describes subjects under first‐line ART as compared with others in more advanced lines of treatment. Results We included 860 patients (76.3% male) with no history of CVD, with median age 45.6 years. Median time since HIV diagnosis was 3 and 14 years (p=0.000) and median time on ART was 22 and 136 months (p=0.000) respectively. Lipid profile is described in the table.n (%) First line regimens, n=219 Subsequent regimens, n=641 p‐valueDyslipidemiaTotal cholesterol >240 mg/dL 17 (7.9) 70 (11.1) 0.180 LDL‐cholesterol >160 mg/dL 19 (9.0) 49 (7.9) 0.636 HDL‐cholesterol <40 mg/dL 85 (39.9) 188 (30.0) 0.008 Total cholesterol/HDL ratio>5 60 (28.2) 160 (25.5) 0.447 Triglycerides≥200 mg/dL 43 (20.0) 136 (21.6) 0.616Lipid‐lowering drugsStatin use 10 (4.6) 101 (15.8) 0.000 Statin use AND Tcol/HDL>5 3 (33.3) 36 (36.0) 1.000 Fibrate use 7 (3.2) 12 (1.9) 0.286 Fibrate use AND TG≥200 mg/dL 3 (42.9) 9 (75.0) 0.326Conclusions Dyslipidemia, especially low HDL and high TG, is highly prevalent in this population regardless being in their first or more advanced lines of treatment. The use of lipid‐lowering drugs in our population is low and furthermore the control of dyslipidemia is not always achieved. Additional research is needed to understand how to achieve lipid goals in this population.